Futoshi Matsunaga
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
serial killer
who both defrauded
and torture
d his victims. He was convicted of six murders and one manslaughter, including two children, between the years 1996 and 1998. He murdered his victims with an accomplice
, Junko Ogata
.
His crimes were so atrocious that most mass media
were not willing to report the details. The Japan Times
reported that prosecutors said "[the case] is without comparison in the criminal history of our country". Yet several writers, including Ryuzo Saki
, published the details of the crimes.
Matsunaga was born in Kokura Kita-ku
, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture
and grew up in Yanagawa
. He earned good grades in school and had a charming personality, but exhibited disciplinary problems. Eventually he was transferred to another high school because of his relationship with a junior high school girl. He married at 19, and had a son.
In October 1982, during his marriage, he became involved with Junko Ogata
in addition to about ten mistresses
with whom he was already involved. In 1984 he promised to marry Junko, but Junko's mother Shizumi, did not approve of Matsungas abuse of her daughter, but he then seduced Shizumi as well.
Junko attempted suicide in February 1985. Matsunaga then convinced Junko that her family hated her because of this. He and Junko began living together in 1985. Two years earlier, Matsunaga opened a futon company named the World, and in 1985 purchased a building in which to operate the company.
Around that time, he began to electrically shock
his employees on the third floor of the building. He used even religious teachings such as saṃsāra
and kami
. His wife escaped with her son and accused him of domestic violence
. He had stolen 180 million yen
through fraud or blackmail. In 1992, he and Junko evaded police capture and were put on the nation's Most Wanted list.
One of her children died under mysterious circumstances in September 1993. Her two other children went to live with their father and grandfather in October 1993.
During their relationship, Matsunaga defrauded the woman of 11.8 million yen. The woman died mysteriously in March 1994. The police were not able to prove that Matsunaga had killed the woman or her child.
in Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu. In 1994, he began victimizing Kumio Toraya and his daughter.
Kumio confided to Matsunaga information about his previous criminal history; Matsunaga then used this information to blackmail Kumio. Kumio even admitted to previous crimes which he had not committed.
Kumio and his daughter were held captive in Matsunaga's room. Matsunaga tortured Kumio with electric shocks, forced him to eat his own feces
, and forced his daughter to bite her father. Kumio was 34 when he died of the effects of this abuse on February 26, 1996.
Matsunaga convinced Kumio's daughter that she had murdered her father. He told Junko and the girl to dispose of the remains. Kumio's remains were thrown into the sea near the Kunisaki Peninsula after pulverizing them.
The same year, Matsunaga found another target; a woman who had been Kumio's acquaintance. Matsunaga promised to marry her. He claimed he was a graduate of Kyoto University
.
Matsunaga defrauded the woman of 5.6 million yen. She and her daughter went to his room where he then held them captive. The woman escaped by jumping from the second floor to the ground in March 1997. She was put into the care of a mental hospital and her daughter was released.
One day in April 1997, Junko left for work and did not return. Matsunaga called Junko's family, informing them of her absence. He continued to blackmail Shizumi. He made threats to Junko's family, and told them that Junko was a murderer.
Matsunaga then faked his own suicide. Believing him to be dead, Junko returned, only to find him alive. Matsunaga continued to treat Junko abusively. Matsunaga also seduced Junko's married sister, Rieko.
Junko's family gave 63 million yen to Matsunaga, after which he held them captive. He abused the vagina
s of Shizumi and Rieko with electric shocks. He controlled the family as if cult-leader Shoko Asahara
did.
On December 21, 1997, he coerced Junko to torture her 61-year-old father, Takashige, to death by electrocution.
After suffering Matsunaga's continued abuse, Shizumi's mental state began to deteriorate. He commanded Rieko and her husband Kazuya to strangle Shizumi on January 20, 1998. She was 58.
Eventually, Rieko began to lose her hearing. On February 10, 1998 he commanded Kazuya to strangle Rieko, while their 10-year-old daughter Aya held her down. Rieko was 33.
Matsunaga and Junko then confined Kazuya in a bathroom, where he starved to death on April 13, 1998. He was 38.
Matsunaga forced Junko, Aya, and Kumio's daughter to kill Rieko's 5-year-old son, Yuki. On May 17, 1998 Aya strangled Yuki while Junko and Kumio's daughter held him down.
During the trial, Kumio's daughter testified that Matsunaga and Junko had tortured Aya with electricity. Junko, however, denied Kumio's daughter's testimony about this, saying the girl's recollections might have been inaccurate because of guilt feelings about committing her first murder. Kumio's daughter strangled Aya on June 7, 1998.
Matsunaga and Junko dismembered and boiled their victims' remains in pots. The other residents of the condominium heard strange noises and smelled the stench. The victims' remains were finally disposed of in washroom
s or put out to sea. The condominium was renovated after the murders. Matsunaga blamed the murders on Junko, who, with their two children, were the only survivors in her family.
Matsunaga's crimes continued. In July 2000, Matsunaga convinced another woman to go away with him, lured by the prospect of marriage. In August 2001, she gave her twin children to him and Junko. Matsunaga and Junko then convinced the woman to give them 20 million yen, telling her they would need the money to bring up her children.
On March 6, 2002, the girl escaped from Matsunaga again, and reported the crimes to the police. She was 17 years old. The police arrested Matsunaga and Junko the next day when they tried to retrieve the girl. The twins and the couple's two children were taken into police protection.
The media initially reported only that Matsunaga and Junko had held their victims captive, similar to the case of Fusako Sano, but eventually the media revealed the details of the murders Matsunaga and Junko had committed.
The pair were charged with Aya's murder on September 18, 2002; Takashige's murder on October 12, 2002; Shizumi's murder on December 6, 2002; Yuki's murder on January 11, 2003; Kumio's murder on February 3, 2003; Rieko's murder on February 25, 2003; and Kazuya's murder on May 30, 2003.
No murder charges were brought against Kumio's daughter. Junko calmly confessed to her part in the murders, but Matsunaga professed his own innocence. He insisted that the women had fabricated their stories about him. The Japanese police never recovered any human remains and found no physical evidence, so they primarily relied upon the Kumio's daughter's testimony and Junko's testimony during the police investigation.
On September 28, 2005, a district court in Fukuoka sentenced Matsunaga and Junko to die by hanging. The court tried six cases, but considered that Matsunaga and Junko had not killed Takashige directly, but that they had only injured him by electric shocks, which later resulted in his death.
The pair appealed the verdict. On September 26, 2007, a high court upheld Matsunaga's original sentence, but Junko's sentence was changed from death by hanging to life imprisonment because Matsunaga had exerted control over Junko to force her to kill the victims.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who both defrauded
Fraud
In criminal law, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual; the related adjective is fraudulent. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and also a civil law violation...
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d his victims. He was convicted of six murders and one manslaughter, including two children, between the years 1996 and 1998. He murdered his victims with an accomplice
Accomplice
At law, an accomplice is a person who actively participates in the commission of a crime, even though they take no part in the actual criminal offense. For example, in a bank robbery, the person who points the gun at the teller and asks for the money is guilty of armed robbery...
, Junko Ogata
Junko Ogata
is a Japanese woman who acted as an accomplice to serial killer Futoshi Matsunaga.-Early life and murders:Ogata was born on Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, and grew up in a wealthy family. She was Matsunaga's schoolmate in high school, but she did not know him very well, and he transferred to another...
.
His crimes were so atrocious that most mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
were not willing to report the details. The Japan Times
The Japan Times
The Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
reported that prosecutors said "[the case] is without comparison in the criminal history of our country". Yet several writers, including Ryuzo Saki
Ryuzo Saki
is a Japanese novelist, non-fiction writer, born in North Hamgyong, a province of what is now North Korea. He is interested with many crimes in Japan and published many books about Japanese crimes....
, published the details of the crimes.
Early life
Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu
is a ward of Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka, Japan. It is the north part of what used to be Kokura City before the merger of five cities to create the new city of Kitakyūshū in 1963...
, Kitakyūshū, Fukuoka Prefecture
Fukuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Fukuoka.- History :Fukuoka Prefecture includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen....
and grew up in Yanagawa
Yanagawa, Fukuoka
is a city located in Fukuoka, Japan.On March 21, 2005 the towns of Yamato and Mitsuhashi, both from Yamato District, were merged into Yanagawa.As of April 30, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 71,848, with a household number of 24,507, and the population density of 934.55 persons per km²...
. He earned good grades in school and had a charming personality, but exhibited disciplinary problems. Eventually he was transferred to another high school because of his relationship with a junior high school girl. He married at 19, and had a son.
In October 1982, during his marriage, he became involved with Junko Ogata
Junko Ogata
is a Japanese woman who acted as an accomplice to serial killer Futoshi Matsunaga.-Early life and murders:Ogata was born on Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture, and grew up in a wealthy family. She was Matsunaga's schoolmate in high school, but she did not know him very well, and he transferred to another...
in addition to about ten mistresses
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
with whom he was already involved. In 1984 he promised to marry Junko, but Junko's mother Shizumi, did not approve of Matsungas abuse of her daughter, but he then seduced Shizumi as well.
Junko attempted suicide in February 1985. Matsunaga then convinced Junko that her family hated her because of this. He and Junko began living together in 1985. Two years earlier, Matsunaga opened a futon company named the World, and in 1985 purchased a building in which to operate the company.
Around that time, he began to electrically shock
Electric shock
Electric Shock of a body with any source of electricity that causes a sufficient current through the skin, muscles or hair. Typically, the expression is used to denote an unwanted exposure to electricity, hence the effects are considered undesirable....
his employees on the third floor of the building. He used even religious teachings such as saṃsāra
Samsara
thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...
and kami
Kami
is the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity", some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term...
. His wife escaped with her son and accused him of domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
. He had stolen 180 million yen
Japanese yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a reserve currency after the U.S. dollar, the euro and the pound sterling...
through fraud or blackmail. In 1992, he and Junko evaded police capture and were put on the nation's Most Wanted list.
The first two victims
Matsunaga's first victim was a married woman with three children. In April 1993, he convinced her to leave her husband and run away with him, telling the woman that Junko was his sister.One of her children died under mysterious circumstances in September 1993. Her two other children went to live with their father and grandfather in October 1993.
During their relationship, Matsunaga defrauded the woman of 11.8 million yen. The woman died mysteriously in March 1994. The police were not able to prove that Matsunaga had killed the woman or her child.
Captivity and murders
Matsunaga lived in a condominiumCondominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
in Kokura Kita-ku, Kitakyushu. In 1994, he began victimizing Kumio Toraya and his daughter.
Kumio confided to Matsunaga information about his previous criminal history; Matsunaga then used this information to blackmail Kumio. Kumio even admitted to previous crimes which he had not committed.
Kumio and his daughter were held captive in Matsunaga's room. Matsunaga tortured Kumio with electric shocks, forced him to eat his own feces
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
, and forced his daughter to bite her father. Kumio was 34 when he died of the effects of this abuse on February 26, 1996.
The same year, Matsunaga found another target; a woman who had been Kumio's acquaintance. Matsunaga promised to marry her. He claimed he was a graduate of Kyoto University
Kyoto University
, or is a national university located in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, and formerly one of Japan's Imperial Universities.- History :...
.
Matsunaga defrauded the woman of 5.6 million yen. She and her daughter went to his room where he then held them captive. The woman escaped by jumping from the second floor to the ground in March 1997. She was put into the care of a mental hospital and her daughter was released.
One day in April 1997, Junko left for work and did not return. Matsunaga called Junko's family, informing them of her absence. He continued to blackmail Shizumi. He made threats to Junko's family, and told them that Junko was a murderer.
Matsunaga then faked his own suicide. Believing him to be dead, Junko returned, only to find him alive. Matsunaga continued to treat Junko abusively. Matsunaga also seduced Junko's married sister, Rieko.
Junko's family gave 63 million yen to Matsunaga, after which he held them captive. He abused the vagina
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
s of Shizumi and Rieko with electric shocks. He controlled the family as if cult-leader Shoko Asahara
Shoko Asahara
, born on March 2, 1955, is a founder of the controversial Japanese new religious group Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and several other crimes, for which he was sentenced to death...
did.
On December 21, 1997, he coerced Junko to torture her 61-year-old father, Takashige, to death by electrocution.
After suffering Matsunaga's continued abuse, Shizumi's mental state began to deteriorate. He commanded Rieko and her husband Kazuya to strangle Shizumi on January 20, 1998. She was 58.
Eventually, Rieko began to lose her hearing. On February 10, 1998 he commanded Kazuya to strangle Rieko, while their 10-year-old daughter Aya held her down. Rieko was 33.
Matsunaga and Junko then confined Kazuya in a bathroom, where he starved to death on April 13, 1998. He was 38.
Matsunaga forced Junko, Aya, and Kumio's daughter to kill Rieko's 5-year-old son, Yuki. On May 17, 1998 Aya strangled Yuki while Junko and Kumio's daughter held him down.
During the trial, Kumio's daughter testified that Matsunaga and Junko had tortured Aya with electricity. Junko, however, denied Kumio's daughter's testimony about this, saying the girl's recollections might have been inaccurate because of guilt feelings about committing her first murder. Kumio's daughter strangled Aya on June 7, 1998.
Matsunaga and Junko dismembered and boiled their victims' remains in pots. The other residents of the condominium heard strange noises and smelled the stench. The victims' remains were finally disposed of in washroom
Washroom
A public toilet is a room or small building containing one or more toilets and possibly also urinals which is available for use by the general public, or in a broader meaning of "public", by customers of other...
s or put out to sea. The condominium was renovated after the murders. Matsunaga blamed the murders on Junko, who, with their two children, were the only survivors in her family.
Matsunaga's crimes continued. In July 2000, Matsunaga convinced another woman to go away with him, lured by the prospect of marriage. In August 2001, she gave her twin children to him and Junko. Matsunaga and Junko then convinced the woman to give them 20 million yen, telling her they would need the money to bring up her children.
Arrest and trial
Kumio's daughter, who was being held captive, escaped from Matsunaga on January 30, 2002, but Matsunaga found the girl on February 15, 2002 and took her back into captivity. He then tortured the girl with electric shocks.On March 6, 2002, the girl escaped from Matsunaga again, and reported the crimes to the police. She was 17 years old. The police arrested Matsunaga and Junko the next day when they tried to retrieve the girl. The twins and the couple's two children were taken into police protection.
The media initially reported only that Matsunaga and Junko had held their victims captive, similar to the case of Fusako Sano, but eventually the media revealed the details of the murders Matsunaga and Junko had committed.
The pair were charged with Aya's murder on September 18, 2002; Takashige's murder on October 12, 2002; Shizumi's murder on December 6, 2002; Yuki's murder on January 11, 2003; Kumio's murder on February 3, 2003; Rieko's murder on February 25, 2003; and Kazuya's murder on May 30, 2003.
No murder charges were brought against Kumio's daughter. Junko calmly confessed to her part in the murders, but Matsunaga professed his own innocence. He insisted that the women had fabricated their stories about him. The Japanese police never recovered any human remains and found no physical evidence, so they primarily relied upon the Kumio's daughter's testimony and Junko's testimony during the police investigation.
On September 28, 2005, a district court in Fukuoka sentenced Matsunaga and Junko to die by hanging. The court tried six cases, but considered that Matsunaga and Junko had not killed Takashige directly, but that they had only injured him by electric shocks, which later resulted in his death.
The pair appealed the verdict. On September 26, 2007, a high court upheld Matsunaga's original sentence, but Junko's sentence was changed from death by hanging to life imprisonment because Matsunaga had exerted control over Junko to force her to kill the victims.
Victims
- - The girl's father
- - Junko's father
- - Junko's mother
- - Junko's sister
- - Rieko's husband
- - Junko's nephew
- - Junko's niece
See also
- Milgram experimentMilgram experimentThe Milgram experiment on obedience to authority figures was a series of notable social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that...
— experiment using electric shocks - Concrete-encased high school girl murder — another high-profile torture murder in Japan
- Capital punishment in JapanCapital punishment in JapanCapital punishment is legal in Japan. The only crimes for which capital punishment is statutory are homicide and treason. Between 1946 and 1993, Japanese courts sentenced 766 people to death , 608 of whom were executed...
Further reading
- Ryuzo SakiRyuzo Sakiis a Japanese novelist, non-fiction writer, born in North Hamgyong, a province of what is now North Korea. He is interested with many crimes in Japan and published many books about Japanese crimes....
(2005) (Naze kazoku wa koroshiatta noka, translation; Why did the family kill each other?) ISBN 4413041208 - Masayoshi ToyodaMasayoshi Toyodais Japanese journalist and writer. In 1995, he also became the founder of the Japanese men's liberation organization Men's Lib Tokyo.After his graduation from Waseda University, he went to New York and worked as a reporter. He wrote books about domestic violence and child abuse in Japan...
(2005) (Kesareta ikka: kitakyūshū renzoku kankin satsujin jiken, translation; The Extinguished Family—Serial Captivity-Murders Case in Kitakyushu) ISBN 4103005114
External links
- Futoshi Matsunaga from "serial killer true crime library"
- Captive boys rescued from condo The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, March 11, 2002 - Girl's confiners reveal names The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, March 14, 2002 - Pair accused of slaying seven face gallows The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, March 3, 2005 - Pair accused of slaying 7 face gallows The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, March 12, 2005 - Pair to hang for seven murders The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
September 29, 2005 - Death sentence reduced for one of murderous pair The Japan TimesThe Japan TimesThe Japan Times is an English language newspaper published in Japan. Unlike its competitors, the Daily Yomiuri and the International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun, it is not affiliated with a Japanese language media organization...
, September 27, 2007 The serial murders case The SunThe Sun (Hong Kong)The Sun is one of the newspapers in Hong Kong, first published in March 1999. It belongs to the Oriental Press Group Limited .There is also an electronic version of The Sun on the Internet...
, October 30, 2005 The serial murders case by JNOC NEWS Kitakyushu Serial Murders Family Murders - from MONSTERS Japanese Wikipedia entry on the murders